Fire alarm systems are often installed within buildings such as commercial, residential, or governmental buildings. Examples of these buildings include offices, hospitals, warehouses, schools, shopping malls, government offices, and casinos.
The fire alarm systems typically include fire control panels (or control panels) that function as system controllers. Fire detection/initiation devices and alarm notification devices are then installed throughout the buildings and connected to the panels. Some examples of fire detection/initiation devices include smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, flame detectors, temperature sensors, and/or pull stations (also known as manual call points). Some examples of fire notification devices include speakers, horns, bells, chimes, light emitting diode (LED) reader boards, and/or flashing lights (e.g., strobes).
The fire detection devices monitor the buildings for indicators of fire. Upon detection of an indicator of fire such as smoke or heat or flames, the device is activated and a signal is sent from the activated device to the control panel. The control panel then initiates an alarm condition by activating audio and visible alarms of the fire notification devices of the fire alarm system. Additionally, the control panel will also send an alarm signal to a monitoring station, which will notify the local fire department or fire brigade.
The monitoring stations will typically monitor multiple fire alarm systems for alarm signals and then notify the proper authorities. Monitoring stations are often required by regulations, making them a standard component of most fire alarm systems, regardless of age or manufacturer of the fire alarm systems' components. These monitoring stations can be administered by a third party company, the same company that provides or manufactures the fire alarm systems, or a public agency, among examples.
The monitoring stations will receive other signals, beyond the alarm signals, from the fire alarm systems. Handshaking signals between the control panels and the monitoring stations are used to confirm the connection status between the fire alarm systems and the monitoring station. Typically, monitoring stations include computer and software systems for receiving, storing, analyzing and displaying connectivity status and fire alarm information based on the signals received from the fire alarm systems. A technician monitors the information and, in the event of a potential fire, informs the local fire department or fire brigade and/or initiates a specified sequence of actions in response to receiving alarm signals for a potential fire.
Typically, building codes, local laws, standards, and/or insurance providers require that the fire alarm systems are periodically tested (e.g., monthly, quarterly, or annually) to verify that the fire detection/initiation and fire notification devices are physically sound, unaltered, working properly, and located in their assigned locations. This testing of the devices is often accomplished with a walkthrough test.
Historically, walkthrough tests were performed by a team of at least two technicians, also known as inspectors. The first technician walked through the building and manually activated each fire detection/initiation such as will artificial smoke while the second technician remained at the control panel to verify that the control panel received a signal from the activated device and/or that the fire notification device properly produced its form of alert. The technicians would typically communicate via two-way radios or mobile phones to coordinate the testing of each device. In some cases, the technicians might even have resorted to comparing hand written notes of the tested devices. After a group of fire detection and fire annunciation devices was tested, the technician at the panel reset the control panel while the other technician moved to the next group of fire detection or fire annunciation devices.
More recently, it has been proposed to use connected services systems to monitor control panels during walkthrough tests, for example. In some cases, the control panels have been given network connectivity to communicate with the connected services systems; in other cases, the technicians have temporarily connected testing computers to the control panels that functioned as gateways. This has allowed the control panels to report status information to the connected services systems, which are typically administered by fire alarm system companies and include, for example, databases for storing historical status information. These connected services systems will also often have remote diagnostic capabilities. As such, connected services systems facilitate the maintenance, compliance and tracking of repairs of fire alarm systems.